A promising start to the season

On a steeply sloping pitch, Farnham kicked off downhill to start the first half. Farnham responded well to strong pressure from Kingston, with Andy freshwater at 10 and Greg Mungall at four both distinguishing themselves with strong tackling. Andy freshwater's positional kicking was also excellent, putting Kingston under pressure at times. Kingston showed themselves to be a well organised team as they shifted the point of attack skilfully eventually breaking through for a try with a successful conversion putting them up seven points to nil. Kingston's early signs of dominance of the scrum were soon brought to a halt and the situation turned around by a committed Farnham pack, who got on the front foot by 15 minutes in and never lost their grip of the set piece from that point forward. An unfortunate interception out wide lead to Kingston's second try, again successfully converted at around 35 minutes to bring the score to 14 points to nil. Farnham were fighting back strongly throughout the first half, with their work at the breakdown especially incisive, securing their own ball and threatening opposition ball with tremendous physicality. Rob Brown at centre had a good game, and made many metres through traffic, putting Farnham on the front foot as momentum started to shift in Farnham's favour. Shortly before half-time, Andy freshwater's kick to the corner for an attacking Farnham line out led to a pick and drive which very nearly resulted in a try, a handling error leading to a turnover which allowed Kingston to close out the half without being scored against.

At half time Farnham had every right to feel that the game was turning in their favour, and so it proved to be, as early in the second half excellent forward pressure from Farnham lead to a try by Andy McNair, the scrum-half, in the left corner. Andy freshwater just failed to make the conversion, leaving the score at 14 points to five.

Rob Brown was forced to leave the pitch with a broken finger after an excellent performance, and is likely to be out for at least 2 to 3 weeks. After 10 minutes of the second half Andy McNair went down with an ankle injury, which turned out to be an ankle dislocation and break, just as Farnham were once again threatening Kingston's try line. Since he was unable to be moved until the ambulance arrived, the game was stopped at that point.

Farnham had every right to believe that they could have hauled back the difference in the second half with the way momentum had shifted in their favour, and their commitment from 1 to 15. The forwards, in particular, showing great hunger for the ball and relishing the contact area, constantly challenging and pressuring Kingston and rattling their composure. Dan Ross lead from the front in this area, with Kieran Marshal, Ralph Phillips and Tom Foster getting around the pitch well to secure every breakdown with tremendous commitment.

All in all, an excellent performance to lead into the regular season from a very accomplished-looking Farnham 2's.